Apparatus for sweeping pins from a bowling alley



June 26, 1962 1H. M. DOWD ETAL 3,041,072

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June 26, 1962 APPARATUS FOR SWEEPING PINS FROM A BOWLING ALLEY Original Filed Dec. 3. 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 14 .IJIII INVENTORS. HOWARD M. DOWD 6/2 BY ROYAL L,. BARROWS 6, CZzZZ -M ATTORN EYS V June 26, 1962 H. M. DOWD ETAL 3,041,072

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f Tull HIIHIH NVENTORS. HOWARD M OWD lFggOYAL L. 'BARROWS ATTORNEYS June 26, 1962 H. M. DOWD ETAL APPARATUS FOR SWEEPING PINS FROM A BOWLING ALLEY l8 Sheets-Sheet 16 Original Filed Dec. 5, 1956 INVENTORS HOWARD M. DOWD ROYAI; L. BARROWS BY ATTO R N EYS June 26, 1962 H. M. DOWD ETAL APPARATUS FOR SWEEPING PINS FROM A BOWLING ALLEY Origiril Filed Dec, 3, 1956 l8 Sheets-Sheet 17 my NTOR HOWARD M. DOWE 8 ROYAL 1., BARROWS BY ATTORN EYS June 26, 1962 3,041,072

APPARATUS FOR SWEEPING PINS FROMA BOWLING ALLEY H. M. own ETAL l8 Sheets-Sheet 18 Original Filed Dec. 3, 1956 mmm A m R T Mm A D L A Wm HRW? United States Patent 3,041,072 APPARATUS FOR SWEEPWG PINS FROM A BOWLING ALLEY Howard M. Dowd, Littleton, Mass. (31 Milk St, Boston, Mass), and Royal L. Barrows, Middleton, Mass. (10 Woodland St., Everett 49, Mass.) Original application Dec. 3, H56, Ser. No. 625,739. Divided and this application May 18, 1959, Ser. No.

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-54) This invention relates to bowling pin setting machines and more particularly to novel mechanism for automatically setting duck pins and king pins.

This application is a division of our copending application Serial No. 625,739, filed December 3, 1956, for Automatic Bowling Pin Setting Machine.

Many mechanisms have been designed for the purpose of setting bowling pins of the duck pin and ten pin types, but for various reasons they have failed to fully satisfy bowling alley proprietors and the bowling public. The primary purpose of a pin setting machine is to eliminate the need for pin boys; but for pin setting machines to fully supplant pin boys and to be commercially successful as well as acceptable to the bowling public, it is necessary not only that such machines be capable of fully performing the various functions of a pin boy, but also that they (1) be of compact design to fit in existing alleys without need for extensive revamping of the alley structure; (2) operate accurately and rapidly; (3) be under complete control of the bowler: (4) be substantially free of jamming; and (5) have a cost of installation, use, and maintenance that fully justifies the fact of automation. Machines hitherto designed have failed to satisfy all of the aforesaid requirements. Some have not been capable of fully performing all of the normal functions of a pin .boy, such as removing dead wood. Others have been so large or heavy as to require enlargement or strengthening of bowling alley establishments. Still others have operated too slowly or inconsistently, or have required constant attention to remove pins that become jammed in the various mechanisms or have piled up in the pit due to failure of the pin conveyor to pick them up. In many cases the designs have been such as to make prohibitive the cost of installation and maintenance. Other specific faults and criticisms may be noted against specific mechanisms.

Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide an automatic bowling pin setting machine that is adapted to set duck pins, but which can be modified by dimensional changes to accommodate the larger ten pins (also called king pins), and which is so designed as to be free of the faults noted above attendant to other pin setting machines hitherto invented.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bowling pin setting machine having means for sweeping pins and balls from the alley and gutters, means for removing pins and balls from the alley pit, means for directing balls ting selective operation of the sweeper and pin setting rack to remove dead wood and if necessary, to pick up standing pins preparatory to removal of dead wood.

Another object is to provide improvements in (1) means for sweeping pins from the alley floor; (2) means for separating balls and pins in the alley pit; (3) means for picking up, conveying, and discharging bowling pins; (4) means for picking up, conveying, and discharging bowling balls; (5) means for storing and distributing pins; (6) means for setting pins on the alley floor and for picking up pins from the alley floor; and (7) means for starting and limiting operation of the aforementioned means so as to (a) control the trafiic of pins throughout the machine, (12) maintain a complete set of pins in ready reserve for setting, (0) prevent operation of certain mechanisms except under the correct conditions, (d) selectively cause certain mechanisms to perform one of several operations, (e) remove control of the machine from the bowler after the machine has been set in operation, and (f) restore control to the bowler only after the machine has completed its particular operation.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 10 together comprise a plan view of the bowling pin setting machine of this invention, with certain portions broken away and omitted for ease of illustration;

FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 10 together comprise a side elevation of the same machine, with certain portions broken away or shown in section for ease of illustration;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing details of the pin sweeper carriage mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line '55- of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 20;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the bowling pin elevator, the section being taken along line 7-777 of FIG. 1a; however, for convenience, the several portions of the pin elevator are illustrated as residing in a common plane;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a'sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view in elevation of the pin distributor mechanism, the section being taken along line 1c 1a of FIG. 1b;

back to the bowler, meansfor conveying pins from the level of the pit to a distributing mechanism located above the alley, storage means for receiving a complete set of pins from the distributing means, a pin setting rack, means for releasing pins from the storage means to the pin setting rack, means under the bowlers control for lowering the rack to deposit a complete set of pins on the alley floor, means under'the bowlers control for causing the rack to pick up standing pins on the alley so as to allow dead wood to be swept from the alley and to redeposit said standing pins on the alley floor after removal of the dead wood, and control means for causing said various means to operate in a predetermined manner so as to maintain a complete set of pins available for deposit on the alley upon request while at the same time permit- FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the pin distributor mechanism;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the pin distributor" showing details of the clutch mechanism for indexing the distributor;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view in elevation of the pin reservoir section and the pin setting board, the view being taken along a line corresponding to line 1414 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the pin storage finger assembly;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the pin-positioning board;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line 17-17 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view taken along line 18-18 the mechanism for operating and controlling the storage finger assembly and the pin-positioning board;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged plan view of certain of the elements 'for opening and closing the cupsof the pinpositioning board;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged plan view of the control mechanism of the machine,'including some of the mechanism shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line 2222 of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged side elevation of the mechanism shown in PIG-'21 for raising and lowering the pin-positioning board;

FIG. 24 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the mechanism of FIGS. 19 and 2-1;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing certain of the elements of the mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 21; and,

FIG. 26 is a schematic representation of the electrical circuits of the machine.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a conventional bowling alley A, having a stationary pit B at the rear end thereof. Disposed at this same end of the alley is a bowling pin setting machine constructed according to this invention. The machine as illustrated is adapted to handle duck pins. However, by appropriately changing the dimensions of the various pintransporting mechanisms, machines can be constructe to handle the larger ten pins instead. 1

The machine can be divided into seven component mechanisms; namely, an alley pit turntable C, a pin elevator D, a ball elevator E, a pin sweeper F, a pin distributor G, a pin reservoir H, and a pin spotting and respotting rack I. Continuously operating gutter belts J for sweeping balls and pins from the gutters of the alley form part of the alley pit turntable mechanism. In addition, the machine includes mechanism for operating the aforesaid component mechanisms and electrical controls for'controlling said operating mechanism. In the following specification, the operating mechanisms and the tion and relationship of the former relative to' the latter;

otherwise, the operating mechanisms and electrical controls are described separately. r

Pit Turnable C Positioned in pit B of the alley is a turntable C. The turntable is secured to and supported by a cylindrical member 2 which is rotatably secured to a bearing plate 4 fixed to the floor of the pit B. A large pul1ey6 is secured to cylindrical member 2. Also located in the pit at a fixed position is a rotatable vertical shaft 8 provided with an idler pulley 10. A turntable drive motor M1 is located behind the rear wall 14 of the pit. Motor M1 has a drive pulley 16 which acts to drive a belt 18 which passes through a hole 20* in rear wall 1-4 and rides about idler pulley 16 and pulley gear 6 to drive the turntable clockwise (FIG. la). A plurality of rollers 22 which are rotatably secured to standards 24 engage the underside of the turntable adjacent its edge and act to prevent the turntable from wobbling or breaking under the impact of pins and balls delivered thereto from the alley.

Engaging the top surface of pulley is a wheel 19 fixedly mounted on a shaft 21 extending transversely of the pit beneath the turntable. Shaft 21 is journaled in bearings 23 and is provided at its ends with pulleys 25 which drive endless gutter belts J. Two additional pulleys (now shown) are positioned in the gutters further back in the alley and are so positioned as to direct the upper run of the belts over the top surface of the gutter. Pulley 10 drives wheel 19 and shaft '21 in a direction such that the upper run of the belts moves toward the pit,

as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1a. The gutter belts operate continuously so long as motor M1 is operating.

Pin Elevator D Located at the rear end of the pit is a pin elevator D. This component mechanism comprises three integrated frame sections 26, 28, and 30, and a pin conveyor comprising a pair of endless chains 32 and 34 which cooperate to transport a plurality of pin-conveying elements generally identified by numeral 36. Frame section 26 is disposed behind rear wall 14 of the pit and extends horizontally and laterally of the machine. Frame section 26 has a pair of wall members 38 and 46 secured together in parallel spaced relation by a vertical end wall 42 and a horizontal floor member 44 located between the upper and lower edges of wall members 38 and 40. Floor member 44 terminates short of end wall 42 and is olfset along its center line to provide a longitudinally extending channel section 46. At the end opposite wall 42, floor 44 curves upwardly as at 47. The curved floor section 47 has a longitudinal channel 46a which is deeper than channel 46 and connects with the latter at 152. Channel 46a is wide enough to receive the V-shaped portion 138 of pin carrier elements 36 and the head but not the body of a bowling pin. Also secured to wall members 38 and 40 above floor member 44 are two inclined wall members 48 and 50 which act to deflect and guide pins into the channel 46 of floor member 44. Wall members 48 and 50 also shield chains 32 and 34 from pins falling into the trough defined by wall members 38 and 40 and floor member 44.

At the end opposite end wall 42 the two side walls 38 and 40 are joined to the two vertically extending side walls 52 and 54 of frame section 2 8. As shown in FIG. 2a the bottom ends of side Walls 52 and 54 are in the same vertical planes as walls 38 and 40, which planes are parallel to the planes of rear pit wall 14. However, side walls 52 and 54 are both permanently twisted so that their upper ends lie in vertical planes extending obliquely of the machine. Extending between and secured to side walls 52 and 54 is an elongated plate or partition 58 having a U-shaped channel 59 which functions as a continuation of channel 46a. Plate 58 is permanently twisted in conformance with the twist of side walls 52 and 54. The front edges of side walls 52 and 54 are also provided with flanges 66 and 62 which are disposed parallel to plate 53 and cooperate with the latter to provide a guideway for chains 32 and 34.

' Frame section '30 comprises two side wall members 66 and 68 secured to the top ends of side wall members 52 and 54. Both members 66 and 68 have inturned flanges 70 and 72 at their bottom edges, the flanges acting as supporting guideways for chains 32 and 34. At their forward end side wall members 66 and 68 have like pin carrier deflecting members 74 and 76 on their inside surfaces. These pin carrier deflecting members are spaced from each other by an amount large enough to accommodate therebetween the neck portion of a bowling pin P but small enough to intercept and support the curved yoke portion of the pin carriers. Deflecting members 74 and 76 extend between the depending extensions 78 and 8 9 of side wall' members 66 and 68, terminating at 82. Also secured to the side wall members 66 and 68 is a flat horizontal floor member 86. The rear end of floor member 86 curves downwardly as shown at 8%. Attached to depending extensions 78 and 86 by two brackets '96 is a delivery chute 92;. The

chute is provided with a large arch-like slot 94 on the side switch finger to momentarily close the switch.- 

